Machine optimization devices, methods, and systems

ABSTRACT

A method, system, computer program product and computer readable media for matching using degree distribution information are disclosed. An embodiment of the method can include performing b-matching on a graph data structure expanded using degree distribution information in order to identify neighbors of a selected input node. The b-matching can be performed using belief propagation. The belief propagation method is adapted to use a compressed message update rule and to be suitable for use with distributed processing systems. An embodiment can also include enhancing a matching result by applying degree distribution information to a first matching result to generate a second matching result. Embodiments for online advertisement/search term matching, product recommendation, dating service and social network matching, auction buyer/seller matching and resource allocation, among other, are disclosed.

This application is a continuation application of, and claims priority to, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/133,932 filed on Sep. 15, 2011 (now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 8,631,044), the specification of which is hereby incorporated by reference. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/133,932 is a national stage application of, and claims priority to, International Application No. PCT/US09/67630, filed on Dec. 11, 2009, the specification of which is also hereby incorporated by reference. International Application No. PCT/US09/67630 is a non-provisional application of, and claims priority to, U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/122,356, filed Dec. 12, 2008, the specification of which is hereby also incorporated by reference. International Application No. PCT/US09/67630 is also a continuation-in-part application of, and also claims priority to, International Application No. PCT/US09/32070, filed on Jan. 26, 2009, the specification of which is hereby also incorporated by reference. The disclosure of each of the above-listed applications is herein incorporated by reference.

This invention was made with government support under Career Award IIS-0347499 awarded by National Science Foundation. The government has certain rights in the invention.

BACKGROUND

Computational systems and methods are used to facilitate many transactions and machine functions. Examples include network optimization, pattern matching, consumer recommender engines, homeland security, and others. Many systems employ computational models called network models or graphs which define links or edges between nodes. The links and nodes may be used to represent features of the problem space. Some techniques employing graphs solve for an optimized set of edges based on constraints on a respective number of edges that may connect each node and a respective value associated with the connection. There exists a perennial need for new applications, speed improvements, reliability, and other advantages for such systems and methods.

SUMMARY

Embodiments of the disclosed subject matter relate generally to systems, methods, programs, computer readable media, and devices that benefit from the optimization of links between things, for example, those that optimize computer transactions, provide certain types of machine intelligence such as pattern recognition, make and optimize recommendations to facilitate and others.

In a particular example, a recommender makes certain transactions available responsively to optimized matches between goods or services and machine representations of people or other entities. Often these kinds of matching problems present an opportunity to optimize some global good, such as revenue for a seller, likelihood of a recommended product or service to be well-received by a consumer, or optimal selection and placement of advertising messages on search result pages, web content pages or adjacent internet media. Such an optimized matching can be handled using various methods, one of which is solving a matching problem by estimating or inferring a subgraph that represents an optimal or desirable level of the global good, whatever that may be for a particular application.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a chart of a method for matching using degree distribution information according to some embodiments of the disclosed subject matter.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a matching problem represented as a bipartite graph showing unmatched elements.

FIG. 3A is a schematic diagram of a matching problem represented as a bipartite graph showing matched elements, unmatched elements and a weight matrix, according to some embodiments of the disclosed subject matter.

FIG. 3B is a diagram of an arrangement for distributed processing for performing matching using degree distribution information according to some embodiments of the disclosed subject matter.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a weight matrix according to some embodiments of the disclosed subject matter.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of degree distribution information according to some embodiments of the disclosed subject matter.

FIG. 6 is a chart of a method for generating an expanded weight matrix according to some embodiments of the disclosed subject matter.

FIG. 7A is a diagram showing expanded weight matrix coefficients generated according to some embodiments of the disclosed subject matter.

FIG. 7B is a schematic diagram showing an expanded weight matrix generated according to some embodiments of the disclosed subject matter.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing an expanded weight matrix after b-matching and conversion to binary values generated according to some embodiments of the disclosed subject matter.

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of a matching result obtained by truncating the binary expanded weight matrix shown in FIG. 8, according to some embodiments of the disclosed subject matter.

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of node degrees of the matching result shown in FIG. 9, according to some embodiments of the disclosed subject matter.

FIG. 11 is a diagram of a system for matching a first class of things to a second class of things using degree distribution information according to some embodiments of the disclosed subject matter.

FIG. 12A is a chart of a method for matching a first class of things to a second class of things based upon belief propagation according to some embodiments of the disclosed subject matter.

FIG. 12B illustrates an embodiment of operations within 1208 of FIG. 12A.

FIG. 12C shows operations a node in the second set V of the bipartite graph.

FIG. 12D illustrates an embodiment of operations within 1208 of FIG. 12A.

FIG. 12E shows operations a node in the second set U of the bipartite graph.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram of a system for matching using degree distribution including parallel processors according to some embodiments of the disclosed subject matter.

FIG. 14 is a diagram of a node processing system for matching using degree distribution and belief propagation according to some embodiments of the disclosed subject matter.

FIG. 15 is a block diagram of a system for matching advertisers with search terms using degree distribution information and belief propagation according to some embodiments of the disclosed subject matter.

FIG. 16 is a chart of a method of matching advertisers with search terms using degree distribution and belief propagation according to some embodiments of the disclosed subject matter.

FIG. 17 is a block diagram of a system for matching dating service members using degree distribution and belief propagation according to some embodiments of the disclosed subject matter.

FIG. 18 is a chart of a method of matching dating service members using degree distribution and belief propagation according to some embodiments of the disclosed subject matter.

FIG. 19 is a diagram of a system for matching sellers and buyers in an auction using degree distribution and belief propagation according to some embodiments of the disclosed subject matter.

FIG. 20 is a chart of a method of matching sellers and buyers in an auction using degree distribution and belief propagation according to some embodiments of the disclosed subject matter.

FIG. 21 is a diagram of a plurality of degree distribution matching/belief propagation processors implemented in hardware according to some embodiments of the disclosed subject matter.

FIG. 22 is a diagram of a hardware matching using degree distribution/belief propagation processor according to some embodiments of the disclosed subject matter.

FIG. 23 is a chart of a recommendation post processing method using degree distribution and belief propagation according to some embodiments of the disclosed subject matter.

FIG. 24 is a block diagram of a recommendation post processing system using degree distribution and belief propagation according to some embodiments of the disclosed subject matter.

FIGS. 25A-25D are diagrams of an initial weight matrix being expanded once to “square” the matrix and then expanded once again to include degree distribution data.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Deriving an optimized graph structure given partial information about nodes and/or edges may be used as a computational framework for machine intelligence engines such as used for matching advertisements to consumers, allocating limited offers or recommendations in search engine result pages, machine learning, matching of buyers and sellers in an auction system, matching users of social networks, and many other problems. Many of these systems and methods involve the optimizing of a subgraph from an original graph data structure. Techniques have been developed for finding subgraphs from an original graph. However, conventional techniques may employ assumptions or compromises that fail to find global optima. More precise techniques suffer from execution times that are commercially unfeasible or undesirable for certain applications that may require relatively fast solution times.

Graph estimation can be used to match graph nodes of the same type with each other (e.g., unipartite graphs) or match nodes of a first type or class with nodes of a second type or class (e.g., bipartite graphs) with each other, and in other types of graphs. One type of matching is b-matching, where b represents the desired degree value for a result. Degree represents the number of connections or neighbors between nodes. The b value for matching can be a constant value and the same for all nodes. Alternatively, each node can have an independent b value that can be the same or different from that of the other nodes. Also, instead of being a constant value, the b value can be described as a distribution over a range of values. Problems types that include distributions of b-values (or degrees of connectedness between nodes) are known as degree distribution problems.

Examples of degree distribution problems include auctions where each buyer and seller may select an independent number (or capacity) of corresponding buyers/sellers or may have a range of capacities they can handle but which may incur different costs. Also a degree distribution problem can arise for cases in which the capacity changes over time, such as when a desired number of possible connections changes according to a quota which varies dynamically. Conventional approaches to solving b-matching problems may not be effective for solving degree distribution problems.

In general, many types of real-world problems can be represented as a graph for purposes of finding a solution to the problem using a computer programmed to solve a specific type of graph matching problem representing the real-world problem. The graph can include nodes that can be potentially connected via edges. Each edge in the graph can have a weight value representing a quantity such as cost, profit, compatibility, or the like. A solution to the problem can be represented as a subgraph of the original graph, the solution subgraph can be considered optimal if the subgraph maximizes the weight values.

For example, the problem of providing matches between online dating service users can be represented in a machine storing a representation of a bipartite graph (G) composed of a first group of nodes (v) representing males and a second group of nodes (μ) representing females. Edges (ε) in the graph can represent a potential match between two members (or nodes). A weight matrix can include weight values (W) for each edge representing a compatibility measure between the pair of male and female user nodes connected by the edge. An optimal solution to the online dating graph problem may be represented as a subgraph having edges connecting each member to those opposite members that are determined to be the most likely matches such that the subgraph produces a maximum or near-maximum compatibility value. The edge weight values for the online dating service problem can be compatibility index values that represent compatibility values for the respective edges (or connections) between respective members on the graph. The compatibility index value can be computed by any suitable process or system, for example, collaborative filtering, matching of profiles based on similarity or more complex rules, etc.

In addition to the online dating match problem having an original graph representing the dating service members and a weight matrix containing compatibility index values for matches between users, there can also be a degree distribution (ψ) for each member. The degree distribution indicates the degree (or number of connections) preference of a node. For example, in the dating service example, a degree distribution can represent the number of matches that a user has paid to receive, the number of matches that a user expects to be able to adequately evaluate within a certain time period, or the like. Generally speaking, the degree distribution for a node represents the degree preference for the node and can be used to encourage a graph solution for that node to have a desired number of connections, while numerically discouraging or penalizing undesired numbers of connections. Each node can have its own degree distribution.

B-matching is one technique for solving graph matching problems. In b-matching, the solution graph contains b matches for each node. While b-matching may be an acceptable technique for certain problems, in its conventional form it has not typically been useful for problems that include degree distributions because of the fixed-degree nature of the b-matching technique.

A graph representing a matching problem including degree distributions can be transformed into an expanded graph (G_(b)) and expanded weight matrix solvable using b-matching with fixed degrees to arrive at a solution that takes into account the degree distributions of the original problem. The expanded graph includes the original graph nodes as well as additional dummy nodes (d) and the expanded weight matrix includes the original weight values as well as additional weight values (ω) determined based on the degree distribution values and that correspond to the edges (E_(b)) between original nodes and dummy nodes. By creating an expanded graph and weight matrix, the degree distribution values are incorporated into the weight matrix so that a b-matching solution of the expanded graph will reflect the degree distribution values for each node.

Returning to the online dating problem, each dating service member can have an associated degree distribution that represents a desired number of matches. An expanded graph is created using the original graph and dummy nodes. An expanded weight matrix is created using the original weight matrix and weight values for the dummy nodes that are determined using the degree distribution values.

Then, a b-matching is performed to solve for a maximum weight subgraph of the expanded graph and weight matrix. The b-matching can be performed using loopy belief propagation as described in greater detail below. A portion of the solution graph to the expanded graph is extracted and represents the solution to the original graph with degree distributions being considered in the solution.

The following paragraphs describe various specific embodiments of techniques matching using degree distribution that may be used as a basis for a variety of devices, systems, and methods.

FIG. 1 is a chart of a method for matching using degree distribution information according to some embodiments of the disclosed subject matter. In particular, in method 100 processing begins at 102 and continues to 104.

At 104, an input graph data structure and corresponding weight data are obtained. The input graph data structure can be a unipartite, bipartite, or other type of graph data structure. The weight data represents a weight (or a profit, cost, or other measure) of an edge between two nodes in the graph data.

At 106, degree distribution information is obtained. The degree distribution information includes degree distribution information for each node in the input graph data structure. The degree distribution information can include prior distribution over node degrees, degree information inferred from statistical sampling properties, degree distributions learned empirically from data, given degree probabilities, or the like. The degree distribution for each node can be specified by a term ψ_(j).

At 108, a new graph data structure is generated that includes dummy nodes in addition to the nodes of the input graph data structure. There are an additional number of dummy nodes equal to each set of nodes in the input graph. An expanded weight matrix is generated using the input weight matrix as the weight values for the input nodes in the expanded weight matrix and degree distribution information is used to determine a weight value for edges between input nodes and dummy nodes, according to the following formula: ω(v _(i) ,d _(i,) _(j) )=ψ_(i)(j−1)−ψ_(i)(j).

Processing continues to 110.

At 110, a maximum weight b-matching operation is performed on the expanded graph data structure and weight matrix. Depending on the structure of the input graph data, a max flow method can be used to determine the maximum weight b-matching or, when the graph a bipartite graph, a belief propagation method can be used to determine the maximum weight b-matching. During the maximum weight b-matching, b is set to the size of a dimension of the original weight matrix (e.g., if the original weight matrix is an n×n matrix, then b=n). The b-matching operation solves the following problem:

⁢ɛ ^ b = argmax ɛ ^ b ⊆ ɛ b ⁢ ∑ ( v i , d , j ) ∈ ɛ ^ b ⁢ w ⁡ ( v i , d i , j ) + ∑ ( i , j ) ∈ ɛ ^ b ⁢ W ij   subject  to   deg (v_(i), ɛ̂_(b)) = N_(i)  for  v_(i) ∈ V. Where, v is a node, d is a dummy node, W is an edge potential or weight value, and N_(i)=deg(v_(i),ε) is the size of the neighborhood of node v_(i).

Additional discussion of the mathematical basis and background of degree distribution matching is set forth in the Appendices.

At 112, an output operation is performed. For example, a result graph or matrix, or a portion of a result graph or matrix can be provided to another module within the same system, provided to another system or provided to a user or operator for use in another process. Processing continues to 114 where processing ends. It will be appreciated that 104-112 can be repeated in whole or in part in order to accomplish a contemplated matching using degree distribution.

FIG. 2 and FIG. 3A are schematic diagrams of a matching problem represented as a bipartite graph. FIG. 2 shows unmatched elements, while FIG. 3A shows matched elements, unmatched elements and a weight matrix.

FIG. 2 shows a bipartite graph 200 having a first group of nodes 202 (u1-u4) matched to a second group of nodes 204 (v1-v4) potentially connected by edges 206.

In FIG. 3A, a bipartite graph 300 shows a first group of nodes 302 (u1-u4) matched to a second group of nodes 304 (v1-v4). The first group may represent a first group of entities or things such as goods, people, or resources and the second group may represent a second group of entities or things such as consumers, people, or resource users. The nature of the objects or entities that can make up these first and second groups are numerous as should be clear from the instant disclosure, but a common feature in most embodiments is that entities of the first group are to be matched to entities of the second group as a part of some kind of a transaction and the precise matching may correspond to some kind of aggregate value such as maximum total revenue. The matching problem posed by the context of the particular first and second groups and the aggregate value sought may also involve constraints such as the number of first group of things that are to be matched to a given second group of thing. Groups could be distinguished by any classification and groupings are not limited by the examples given.

In FIG. 3A, dashed lines (e.g., 306) represent possible edges and solid lines (e.g., 308) represent b-matched edges. By b-matched, it is meant that the problem illustrated results in a desired b matches between each of the first group of things to one or more second group of things. In the case shown on the bipartite graph 300, b=2 for each node of groups 302 and 304, so that each node 302 or 304 is connected to two other nodes 304 or 302 with matched edges 308.

Typically, the information representing the potential assignment as indicated by all of the lines 306 and 308 can be supplemented with additional information, generally, weights, which indicate something about the value or cost associated with making each assignment. Here a weight W value of an edge is represented at 316. This weight information may serve as a basis for selecting an assignment that provides some optimum or provides a basis for discriminating the goodness of one assignment scheme versus another. The additional information may be represented in the form of any suitable data structure to store a weight for each edge, such as a weight matrix 318 with each row corresponding to a member of the first group and each column corresponding to a member of the second group with each cell 320 at an intersections indicating the respective weight of an edge connecting each pair of members. The weight matrix 318 represents different weights for each combination of buyer and seller.

The problem of matching of members of one group to another can be described in terms of a bipartite graph. Given a bipartite graph (which can be represented by 300) and associated weight data, a method can be used to perform a matching based on belief propagation. Here the example of a situation where it is desired to match suppliers with customers will be used to illustrate the method. One or more computers may be provided with information defining supplier and customers, which are referred here to as “nodes” which information may be considered to define a bipartite graph 300. Each supplier node (u 302 or v 304) is connected to a customer node (v 304 or u 302) by an edge 308 so the one or more computers is supplied with the potential edges 308 of all the nodes 302, 304 mapping from a supplier node to a customer node. The one or more computers are also provided with access to weight data, for example a matrix 318 with a weight value 319 for each edge of the bipartite graph data structure. The process executed by the one or more computers is such that information is recorded and updated respective of each node, such that a subprocess is performed for each node that communicates with other nodes. In this example, the weight data may be total cost of goods and the optimum matching would coincide with maximum exchange of revenue between buyers and sellers.

Referring now also to FIG. 3B, according to this and other embodiments, the matching problem may be distributed in a system 321 among multiple processors 322-328 and 332-338 communicating over a network 330 such that each can send and receive messages via wired or wireless links being depicted figuratively as connecting lines 340. For the present example, each node shown in FIG. 3A may correspond to a respective node processor 322-328 and 332-338 in FIG. 3B. An alternative would be that each processor would correspond to multiple nodes, but for the sake of discussion, the case where there is a separate processor for each node will be assumed. In such a case only a portion of the weight data in the weight matrix 318 may be provided to each supplier node processor (322-328), the portion being sufficient to indicate the weights of the edges that connect each supplier to all its potential customers (e.g., all the other customers). Similarly, only a portion of the weight matrix 318 may be provided to each customer node processor (332-338) indicating the weights of the edges that connect the customer to all its potential suppliers. The node processors can access the respective weight information on common (e.g. central) or distributed data stores (e.g., respective of each node or community of node processors).

FIG. 3B is a diagram of an arrangement of distributed processors for generalized matching using belief propagation according to some embodiments of the disclosed subject matter. In particular, in this example, a first group of node processors (322-328) correspond to nodes u1-u4 of the graph shown in FIG. 3A, respectively. A second group of node processors (332-338) correspond to nodes v1-v4 of the graph shown in FIG. 3A, respectively. Each of the node processors (502-508 and 512-518) are independently coupled to a network 330 (e.g., the Internet, a local area network, wide area network, wireless network, virtual private network, custom network, bus, backplane, or the like). By being interconnected through the network 330, each of the node processors (322-328 and 332-338) can communicate with the others and send/receive messages according to the belief propagation method described above. Also, each of the node processors (322-328 and 332-338) can be queried independently for its b-matched list generated by the belief propagation method described above. Not only can each node be independently queried, but each node can arrive at its optimal b-matched solution without requiring knowledge of the other nodes' solutions (i.e., the belief propagation method is “privacy protecting” with respect to each node).

The solutions for each node can be aggregated in a central data storage location or may be retained individually at each node, or grouped according to a criterion (e.g., grouping all supplier matches into a list and all customer matches into another list).

The network 330 can be a network such as the Internet, a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a virtual private network (VPN), a direct connection network (or point-to-point), or the like. In general, the network can include one or more now known or later developed technologies for communicating information that would be suitable for performing the functions described above. The selection of network components and technologies can depend on a contemplated embodiment.

In FIG. 3B, one processor is shown for each node for clarity and simplicity of illustrating and describing features of an embodiment. It will be appreciated that each processor may perform the belief propagation method for more than one node.

Not shown in FIG. 3A or 3B are dummy nodes used in the generation and solution of an expanded graph and weight matrix. The dummy nodes function essentially the same as the original nodes, but would not represent actual suppliers or bidders and also, as discussed below, are not degree constrained during the b-matching operation performed on the expanded graph and weight matrix.

Thus, each supplier node, customer node and dummy node may only require access to a vector, defining the potentially connected customer and supplier node weights and a portion of the degree distribution information. In an architecture embodiment for solving the bipartite graph problem, the expanded graph and matrix data may be apportioned among different computers or processors such that each receives only the lists of its suppliers or customers and the associated weights. Other than that, the only other information required for a complete solution, as will become clear below, is a train of messages from other nodes, where each message may be a simple scalar.

A matching can be obtained that progressively seeks an optimization of the above problem by having each customer node keep a score of, for example, how much better buying from each supplier node is than buying from other suppliers. Also, each buyer node may keep a score of how much better selling to each customer node is than selling to other customers. Initially, the score may be just the dollar values represented by the weights. In the process described below, figuratively speaking, as the scores are updated, the supplier nodes tell the customer nodes how much potential money is lost if they are chosen according to their current scores and the customers tell the suppliers similarly. All the scores are continuously updated using this data which may be described as passing messages among the nodes, where the messages contain the information to keep score. Eventually, if the scores are updated according to subject matter described below, the scores progress toward an optimum sorted list of suppliers for each customer and a sorted list of customers for each supplier. Then each supplier or customer node's information can be used to select that supplier or customer's best one or more matches.

In the approach described, each node updates a value corresponding to each of the supplier nodes and customer nodes, with a processor. The process may be described as “belief propagation,” and entails passing messages between adjacent nodes. An important aspect of the approach is knowing when to stop passing messages and determine the best matchings from the node's data. Because the approach progresses toward an optimal solution, the basis for sorting the matches by each node gets better and better as each message is processed. Thus, the one or more one or more computers could be programmed to stop after a period of time or after a threshold number of messages. An optimal solution can be obtained upon the realization of another termination condition as described below.

Once the termination condition is met, the one or more one or more computers, a predetermined number of supplier nodes and a predetermined number of respective customer nodes matching each selected supplier node, may be selected and provided to a client process, for example the matchings may be displayed on a terminal for a user to see.

Note that the graphs 200, 300 and 321 include a limited number of nodes and edges for illustration purposes. The number of nodes and edges in an actual graph data structure for the embodiments described below may include a greater or lesser number of nodes/edges than the number of nodes/edges shown in FIGS. 2, 3A and 3B. Also, the b value for each node in a particular implementation may be assigned a value other than 2 depending on the contemplated matching problem to be solved by the implementation.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a weight matrix according to some embodiments of the disclosed subject matter. In particular, a weight matrix 400 is shown graphically with cells having shading representing various weight values. The diagonal is shaded black to indicate no weight value for a node connecting to itself. Other node cells shaded black (e.g., 402 and 404) indicate a low weight value to reduce or eliminate the potential for the result to contain an edge for those respective nodes (e.g., between nodes 1 and 5). Also, the weight matrix may be adjusted to force or encourage the result to contain an edge between two nodes by containing a high weight value at weight matrix locations corresponding to an edge between two nodes (e.g., 406 and 408).

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of degree distribution information according to some embodiments of the disclosed subject matter. The graphical representation of node degree distributions in FIG. 5 visually illustrates the information provided by degree distribution data. For example, Node 4 has a preference for a lower degree (say 1 or 2), while Node 5 has a preference for a higher degree (say 5 or 6). The matching system and method of this disclosure can perform matching while accommodating differing degree distribution priors or preferences by incorporating degree distribution information into an expanded weight matrix use to determine a matching result.

FIG. 6 is a chart of a method for generating an expanded weight matrix according to some embodiments of the disclosed subject matter. In particular FIG. 6 expands on 108 from FIG. 1. Processing begins at 602 where a new graph structure is generated. The new graph structure is two times the size of the original graph structure. If the original graph structure had n nodes of each type, the new graph structure has 2n nodes and has a corresponding adjacency matrix of size 2n×2n.

At 604, an expanded weight matrix corresponding to the expanded graph data structure is determined. The expanded weight matrix includes the original weight matrix values in one quadrant, two quadrants containing weight matrix values based on degree distribution data and a zero quadrant, as will be described in greater detail below with respect to FIG. 7A.

At 606, degree constraints are set for the original nodes within the expanded graph data structure. The degree constraint for the original nodes is set to the size of one side of the original weight matrix. In other words, if the original weight matrix is of size n×n, then the original nodes are constrained such the b=n when performing the b-matching on the expanded graph and expanded weight matrix.

FIG. 7A is a diagram showing expanded weight matrix coefficients generated according to some embodiments of the disclosed subject matter. In particular, to solve the degree distribution problem, the weight matrix W that represents the value (or relative value) of each match, is expanded doubling its size to generate an expanded weight matrix W. The original weight matrix W (which reflects, for example, the negotiated price for a good to be sold by seller i to buyer k) forms the upper left quadrant of the expanded weight matrix W′. The upper right quadrant of the expanded weight matrix W′ includes ψ_(i)(j) delta values such as, starting at the first row: ψ₁(0)−ψ₁(1), . . . , ψ₁(n−1)−ψ₁(n), and so on until the last row ψ_(n)(0)−ψ_(n)(1), . . . , ψ_(n)(n−1)−ψ_(n)(n). The lower left quadrant of the expanded weight matrix W′ includes φ_(i)(j) delta values such as, starting at the first row: φ₁(0)−φ₁(1), . . . , φ_(n)(0)−φ_(n)(1), and so on until the last row φ₁(n−1)−φ₁(n), . . . , φ_(n)(n−1)−φ_(n)(n). The lower right quadrant values can all be set to zero.

The bipartite graph is expanded by adding to the seller and buyer nodes, dummy nodes to double the number of sellers and buyers. Thus, if there are n buyers and n sellers, an additional n buyers and n sellers are appended. These dummy nodes correspond to the appended delta values ψ_(i)(j), φ_(i)(j), or 0, respectively in the expanded weight matrix W′. In cases where the number of sellers differs from the number of buyers, the larger of the two is used as the expanded weight matrix size and the smaller side of the original weight matrix is expanded with small values (e.g., zero or negative maximum value) and dummy nodes are added to the graph data. These complete a square original and expanded weight matrix and original and expanded bipartite graph. The expanded nodes are dummy nodes similar to those used for the expanded weight matrix.

Once the expanded weight matrix W′ is created and the dummy nodes are provided, methods described below can be applied to the expanded graph and weight data. In distributed processing, the number of node processors may simply be doubled, for example, to have each processor operate and receive and send messages relating to a respective node. The value of b used for solving the problem may be set to n, namely, the number of buyers and sellers (noting that some of the buyers and sellers may be dummies and not real buyers or sellers). Once the matching problem is solved on the expanded graph using the expanded weight matrix W′, as a b-matching problem, (b=n), for example by using the disclosed belief propagation methods and systems, the b-matching solution for the original graph and weight matrix is obtained by extracting the upper left quadrant of a matrix representing the matches on the expanded graph (or by truncating the matrix to remove dummy nodes).

FIG. 7B is a graphical illustration of an expanded weight matrix 700 generated according to the coefficient matrix shown in FIG. 7A. The expanded weight matrix 700 includes the original weight matrix 400 shown in FIG. 4 as the upper left quadrant 702. The upper right 704 and lower left 706 quadrants, corresponding to edges between original nodes and dummy nodes, have been determined using coefficients as described above with respect to FIG. 7A. The lower right quadrant 708, corresponding to edges between dummy nodes only, is a zero value quadrant.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing a resulting expanded weight matrix 800 produced by performing a b-matching operation on the expanded graph structure and outputting match values as binary values. In the binary expanded result matrix, white cells indicate a match and black cells indicate no match. Within the expanded result matrix 800, the upper right quadrant 802 is of interest as a solution to the original matching problem with degree distribution and is extracted (or the dummy nodes can be truncated) to generate a final output result of the b-matching. FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of a matching result obtained by truncating the binary expanded weight matrix shown in FIG. 8, according to some embodiments of the disclosed subject matter.

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of node degrees of the matching result shown in FIG. 9. For example, Nodes 1, 2 and 4 each has degree 2. Nodes 3 and 5 have degree 3 and Node 6 has degree 4. Comparing the match result degrees with the input degree distribution data shows that the matching using degree distribution provided results consistent with preferred or prior node degrees, with Nodes 3, 5 and 6 having a degree distribution favoring higher degrees and Nodes 1, 2 and 4 having degree distributions favoring lower degrees.

FIG. 11 is a diagram of a system for matching a first class of things to a second class of things using degree distribution information according to some embodiments of the disclosed subject matter. In particular, a belief propagation matching system 1100 includes a group of suppliers 1102 and a group of customers 1104. Each of the suppliers 1102 and customers 1104 are represented as nodes in a graph data structure 1106. The system 1100 also includes degree distribution data 1107 and a profit (or cost) matrix 1108. The graph data structure 1106 and profit matrix 1108 are provided as input to a graph structure estimation module 1109. Output from the graph structure estimation module is provided as input to a b-matching module 1112. Also provided as input to the b-matching module 1112 is input data 1110. The b-matching module 1112 is coupled to a data storage 1114 and provides matching results 1116 as output.

In operation, the suppliers 1102 and customers 1104 are stored as nodes or vertices of the graph data structure 1106. The degree distribution data 1107 represent distribution over degrees for each node. The profit matrix 1108 stores the edge profits (or weights) for each edge connecting a supplier and customer. The graph data structure 1106, the degree distribution data 1107 and the profit matrix 1108 can each be stored in the data storage 1114 for retrieval by the graph structure estimation module 1109 and the b-matching module 1112.

The graph structure estimation module 1109 obtains the graph data structure 1106, the degree distribution data 1107 and the profit matrix 1108 from the data storage 1114 and generates an expanded graph data structure and weight matrix (or profit) matrix according to the method described above with respect to FIG. 1.

The b-matching module 1112 receives the input 1110, which can be, for example, a node of interest for b-matching. In one example, the b-matching module 1112 uses an expanded graph data structure profit matrix to perform the b-matching using belief propagation according to the method described below with respect to FIGS. 12A-12E. As discussed above, the b-matching may also be performed using max flow methods when the graph data structure is not a bipartite graph. The messages and beliefs are stored in the data storage 1114. Once the termination condition is met, the b-matching module 1112 outputs the matching results 1116. The termination condition can include any of the termination conditions described below with reference to the conditional branch 1212 in FIG. 12A.

The b-matching module 1112 can operate according to software instructions retrieved from a one or more computers readable medium. The software instructions, when executed by the b-matching module 1112, cause the b-matching module 1112 to perform the belief propagation generalized matching methods as described below.

For example, when adapted for an advertisement/keyword matching application, an implementation of software for the b-matching module 1112 can perform belief propagation according to the following pseudo code:

Begin Pseudo Code // define data structures and variables data structure GraphNode { float received_msgs[ max_num_of_neighbors ] }; GraphNode ads [num_of_ads]; GraphNode keywords [num_of_keywords]; int Profit_Matrix [num_of_ads] [num_of_keywords]; int b=3; Boolean Message_Changed = true; initialize all received_msgs to 1; // to compute messages first time around initialize Profit_Matrix with bid values; // start a main loop to continue until no messages are changed while ( Message_Changed == true ) {  Message_Changed = false; // switch off loop unless a message changes  // send messages from ads to keywords  for i=1 to num_of_ads {   for j=1 to num_of_keywords {   sorted_msgs[ ] =    sorted list of ads[i].received_msgs[ ] *     corresponding exp(Profit_Matrix[ ][ ]) values     excluding that from keyword node j;    L = original index of sorted_msgs[b]; // get index (or     node) of the bth received msg*profit;    old_rcvd_msg = keywords[j].received_msgs[i];    keywords[j].received_msgs[i] =     exp(Profit_Matrix[i][j]) / (exp(Profit_Matrix[i][L]) *     ads[i].received_msgs[L]);    if old_rcvd_msg not equal to keywords[j].received_msgs[i]     then Message_Changed =true;   } end j loop  } end i loop  // send messages from keywords to ads  for j=1 to num_of_keywords {   for i=1 to num_of_ads {    sorted_msgs[ ] = sorted list of keywords[j].received_msgs[ ] *     corresponding exp(Profit_Matrix[ ][ ]) values     excluding that from ad node i;    L = original index of sorted_msgs[b]; // get index (or     node) of the bth received msg*profit;    old_rcvd_msg = ads[i].received_msgs[j];    ads[i].received_msgs[j] =     exp(Profit_Matrix[i][j]) / (exp(Profit_Matrix[L][j]) *     keywords[j].received_msgs[L]);    if old_rcvd_msg not equal to ads[i].received_msgs[j]     then Message_Changed = true;   } end i loop  } end j loop } end while loop - we are now done - no messages are changing // now get the belief values for a keyword node of interest for i=1 to num_of_ads {  belief_values[i] = keywords[keyword_of_interest].received_msgs[i]* Profit_Matrix[i][keyword_of_interest]; } end i loop sort belief_values[ ]; output largest b belief_values[ ]; End Pseudo Code

The above pseudo code represents an example of a linear implementation of the belief propagation method described below. Several simplifications have been made for purposes of illustration including assuming that each node exchanges messages with all nodes of the corresponding type. In an actual implementation, nodes may only exchange messages with their respective neighbor nodes. Also, the pseudo code example continues until no messages are changed. As described above, there are other termination conditions that can be used with the belief propagation method. As mentioned above, the b value for the original graph nodes is constant set to the size of one of the groups of the original graph structure (e.g., n) for all. The dummy nodes remain unconstrained with regard to degree during the b-matching process.

The b-matching module 1112 can be a general-purpose computer adapted for generalized matching using belief propagation, a special-purpose one or more computers for generalized matching using belief propagation, a programmed microprocessor or microcontroller and peripheral integrated circuit element, an ASIC or other integrated circuit, a digital signal processor, a hardwired electronic or logic circuit such as a discrete element circuit, a programmed logic device such as a PLD, PLA, FPGA, PAL, or the like.

The data storage 1114 can be a database such as a relational database or any other suitable arrangement of data. The data can be stored in a physical computer readable media such as a volatile or nonvolatile electronic memory, a magnetic storage device, and/or an optical storage device, or any known or later developed computer readable media.

Referring now to FIG. 12A through 12E, after providing the graph data structure and the edge weight data (e.g., weight matrix or vectors to all the node processors) as indicated by the operation 1204 of chart 1200, variables are initialized as indicated by the operation 1206. The latter operation may include initializing values of data storage elements that store the values of the most recent messages received by the node. An iterative process is performed at 1208 by each node processor 1230, 1250 (See node processors in FIGS. 12C and 12E) to generate messages and to process received messages until a termination condition 1212 is met. Referring to FIGS. 12B and 12C, the multiple customer node processors 1230 contain various updateable data stores 1241, 1243, 1245 which hold a weight vector 1241, a received message vector 1243, and a new message vector 1245. Each node processor 1230 also may store data indicating the potential supplier nodes to which the node corresponding to the node processor 1232 to may be potentially matched. This additional data may be inherent in the data stored at 1241, 1243, and 1245 depending on the data structure employed since the weight matrices, received message values, and new message values are each respective of one of these attached node processors 1232. Also, multiple supplier node processors 1250 contain various updateable data stores 1261, 1263, 1265 which hold a weight vector 1261, a received message vector 1263, and a new message vector 1265. Each node processor 1250 also may store data indicating the potential nodes to which the node corresponding to the node processor 1252 to which it may be potentially optimally matched but this data may be inherent in the other data as discussed above.

The node processor 1230 receives messages from, and transmits messages to, node processors 1232 to which it is connected, each of which corresponds to another node in the respective disjoint set. In this example, each node processor 1230 and 1232 corresponds to a node of a bipartite graph which has two disjoint sets U and V. The node processors 1232 each have the features of node processor 1230. The function of each node processor 1230 may be to derive messages from the data in the data stores 1241, 1243, 1245 and transmit such messages and to receive messages and update the data in the data stores 1241, 1243, 1245. This is done iteratively, in the subprocess 1208, as shown in process 1200 of in FIG. 2A.

FIG. 12B illustrates an embodiment of operations within 1208 of FIG. 12A. FIG. 12C shows operations a node in the second set V of the bipartite graph. FIG. 12D illustrates an embodiment of operations within 1208 of FIG. 12A. FIG. 12E shows operations a node in the second set U of the bipartite graph. The operations are the same, but the operand indices are different in order to account for the set to which the node belongs.

However illustrated in FIG. 12A, the operations of FIG. 12B may be done by separate processors respective of one or more nodes in the single bipartite graph, by processors corresponding to subsets of nodes or by a single processor. Thus, the iteration illustrated as a single process at 1208 may be performed by separate processors in an independent fashion based on messages shared between them.

Referring in particular to FIG. 12B, at 1242, the node processor 1230 performs calculations corresponding to node U. At 1242, intermediate values SM_(j) are calculated for each node V_(j) to which node U_(i) may be matched using messages received from the V_(j) node processors. These intermediate values are simply SM_(j)=RM_(k)*exp(W_(i,k)) for k=1 to N with k≠j (“exp” denotes exponentiation based on the natural logarithm and * represents multiplication) That is, the contribution of the term for the message RM_(k) where k=j is skipped over. At 1244, the list of intermediate values SM_(j) are sorted and the term corresponding to the supplier having the bth highest value is identified. The suppliers are indicated by the index j, so a value L is set to this index. At 1248, new messages NM_(j) are calculated to be sent to each supplier node processor 1232 according to: NM_(j)=exp(W_(i,j))/[exp(W_(i,L))*RM_(L)].

Referring in particular to FIG. 12D, at 1262, the node processor 1250 performs calculations corresponding to node V. At 1262, intermediate values SM_(i) are calculated for each node U_(j) to which node V_(i) may be matched using messages received from the U_(j) node processors. These intermediate values are simply SM_(j)=RMk*exp(W_(k,i)) for k=1 to N with k≠j. (“exp” denotes exponentiation based on the natural logarithm and * represents multiplication) That is, the contribution of the term for the message RM_(k) where k=j is skipped over. At 1264, the list of intermediate values SK are sorted and the term corresponding to the customer having the bth highest value is identified. The customers are indicated by the index j, so a value L is set to this index. At 1268, new messages NM_(j) are calculated to be sent to each customer node processor 1252 according to: NM_(j)=exp(W_(j,i))/[exp(W_(i,L))*RM_(L)].

Referring back to FIG. 12A, the new messages are passed between all the node processors 1232 and 1252 until a termination condition 1212 is reached. Operation proceeds based on whether the termination condition has been reached, as indicated at 1212. The termination condition may be expiration of a watchdog timer, a number of messages received by each processors. Another alternative, and one that provides an optimum solution, is for each node processor to terminate when the messages stop changing. That is, the more recent message is compared to the previous message and if they are the same, the processor stops processing for sending node or when all messages are the same as corresponding prior messages processing for all nodes can be halted. The operation 1212 may also include updating the data stores 1243 or 1263.

As mentioned, the termination condition can be defined as reaching a steady state with respect to message updating, that is, the changes in messages stops. Alternatively, the steady state can be defined as no further message updates being sent if the sending processor makes the determination that the updates are not changing, or when a number of update message being sent or received is below a certain threshold. Alternatively, the termination condition can be defined in terms of a number of iterations of message updating or a number of messages sent (either an aggregate number or a number per node). In another alternative, the termination condition can be defined as the elapsing of a predetermined period of time. If the termination condition has been reached, processing continues with the selection, for an input node, of a predetermined number of supplier nodes or a predetermined number of customer nodes, as indicated at 1214. Otherwise processing returns to the operation indicated at 1208 and discussed above.

At 1210, each node can calculate a vector showing the optimal matches. This can be done by U nodes by enumerating the values of exp(W_(i,k))*RM_(i) over k and selecting the b largest values. This can be done by V nodes by enumerating the values of exp(W_(k,i))*RM_(i) over k and selecting the b largest values. Note that the RM values are respective of the U of V node for which the calculation is done.

The Appendices give an explanation of the operations 1208 and 1210 and some further detail and analysis.

Note that the graph data structure can be any type of data structure suitable for use with generalized matching using belief propagation, such as a bipartite graph data structure. The graph data structure can contain one or more nodes of the same group (unipartite case) or different groups (bipartite case). For example, the graph data structure can include supplier nodes and customer nodes, where each supplier node can be connected to one or more customer nodes, and vice versa. In respective embodiments, the graph node data structure elements correspond to physical entities such as suppliers, customers, goods and/or services. In addition, in embodiments, the nodes correspond to other entities as described below with respect to other embodiments.

The weight data such as represented by the weight matrix discussed above may represent a profit value for each edge between two nodes of the graph data structure. The weight matrix could also be a cost matrix representing a cost associated with a respective matching with suitable values for the terms to suit the computations methods. In the case of a profit matrix, the matching process typically includes a function to enhance and/or maximize profit. And in the case of a cost matrix, the matching process typically includes a function to reduce and/or minimize cost. The values in the profit matrix can be negative, zero, positive or a combination of these values.

An exemplary weight matrix may be represented by a data structure having a record corresponding to each node. The record for each node can include a list of adjacent nodes and a profit value for each of the adjacent nodes. The term “adjacent” refers to the nodes to which a given node may be connected in the same (unipartite case) or a disjoint set (bipartite case). The items of data in the profit matrix can represent physical entities or values such as actual supplier capacity, actual customer demand, monetary amounts of bidding or asking prices, monetary amounts of profit, distances, monetary costs, and/or the like. A portion of the profit matrix can be selected and provided to a respective node processor. The selected portion can represent only the profit matrix record corresponding to each respective node processor. By providing only a portion of the profit matrix to each node processor, data storage and transfer requirements can be reduced.

In operation 1208, electronic messages are passed between adjacent nodes, which may be networked or communicate by a bus or any other data communication system. The node processor can be a computer, a single processor on a device with multiple processors, or any suitable machine capable of making the described computations and sending and receiving the described data. As described above, value (or data content) of each message is determined according to a compressed message update rule. Received messages may be stored by the processor in an electronic memory, such as, for example, RAM, non-volatile storage, a database or any suitable data store. The operation 1210 can be performed using the respective node processors. Downstream processing 1214 may include a process that corresponds to the particular application. For example, if the bipartite graph may describe an application in which search queries or other key words terms appearing on web pages are assigned to bidders, as described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/285,126 (Published as US 2007/0118432) to Vazirani et. Al. and filed Nov. 21, 2005, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. In that case, a first set of nodes would be the bidders and a second set of nodes would be the sellers and the downstream operation would include placing the advertisements corresponding to the bidders to corresponding locations on one or more web pages, for example, alongside search results or on other web pages.

The nodes selected at 1214 are matched based on updated belief values. For example, in a b-matching problem, the b nodes having the highest belief values with respect to an input node are selected. Ties can be handled in a number of ways including by using a “coin toss” to select between tying nodes, or, alternatively or in addition, a small random value can be added to the weight or profit matrix value for each edge so that no two nodes are likely to tie. The selected nodes can be provided as output to another process or system. Processing then terminates at 1216.

It will be appreciated that the 1202-1216 procedure may be repeated in whole or in part in order to accomplish a contemplated belief propagation b-matching function. For example, the belief values may be updated for the entire graph data structure and then matching results may be provided for a plurality of nodes on interest before the belief values of the graph are updated. Alternatively, because the matching may result in changes to one or more nodes in the graph as a result of being selected as matching nodes (e.g., a supplier's amount of available goods may be reduced or a customer's requirement for goods may have been met), the belief values may need to be recomputed each time a matching is performed for a node.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram of a system for matching using degree distribution including parallel processors according to some embodiments of the disclosed subject matter. In particular, a belief propagation matching system 1300 includes a group of suppliers 1302 and a group of customers 1304. Each of the suppliers 1302 and customers 404 are represented as nodes arranged and stored in a graph data structure 1306. The system 1300 also includes a profit (or cost) matrix 1308 and degree distribution data 1309. The graph data structure 1306, profit matrix 1308 and degree distribution data 1309 are provided as input to a graph expansion module 1311. An expanded graph and profit matrix produce by the graph expansion module is provided as input to a b-matching module 1312. Also provided as input to the belief propagation matching system 1312 is input data 1310. The belief propagation matching system 1312 is coupled to a data storage 1314 and provides matching results 1316 as output.

In operation, the suppliers 1302 and customers 1304 are stored as nodes or vertices of the graph data structure 1306. The profit matrix 1308 stores the edge profits (or weights) for each edge connecting a supplier and customer. The degree distribution data 1309 represents preferred or prior node degree distributions. The graph data structure 1306, the profit matrix 1308 and the degree distribution data 1309 can each be stored in the data storage 1314.

The graph expansion module 1311 generates an expanded graph data structure including the original graph data structure and additional dummy nodes. The graph expansion module 1311 also generates an expanded profit matrix including the original profit matrix as one quadrant, two quadrants based on the degree distribution data 1309 and a zero quadrant, according to the method described above.

The belief propagation matching system 1312 receives the expanded graph and profit matrix produced by the graph expansion module 1311 and also receives the input data 1310, which can be, for example, a node of interest for b-matching. The belief propagation matching processor 1312 uses the expanded graph data structure and the expanded profit matrix to perform a distributed form of belief propagation for b-matching as described above. The messages and beliefs are updated using distributive (or parallel) processing and stored in the data storage 1314. Once the termination condition is met, the belief propagation matching system 1312 makes the matching results 1316 available as output. The termination condition can include any of the termination conditions described above with reference to the conditional branch 1212 of FIG. 12A.

The belief propagation matching system 1312 can be a distributed or parallel processing system. For example, the belief propagation matching system 1312 can be implemented as a cloud computing system. Cloud computing is a computing system in which computing resources are provided as a service over a network such as the Internet to users who do not need direct control over the technology infrastructure (“in the cloud”) that supports their computation requirements. Cloud computing also provides providing scalable virtual private servers. Examples of commercially available cloud computing offerings include Google App Engine provided by Google.com and Amazon.com's Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2). The data storage 1314 can be an Internet-based scalable storage infrastructure such as Amazon.com's Simple Storage Service (S3) or any other data storage system suitable for use with the belief propagation matching system 1312.

The belief propagation matching system 1312 can also be implemented according to any other suitable distributed or parallel processing architecture, including hardware and software systems containing more than one processing element or storage element, concurrent processes, multiple programs, and/or the like.

The systems and methods described above and below, herein, can be applied to matching nodes in a system represented by a unipartite graph data structure such as a social network. The systems and methods can be used to provide matching results such as social network referrals, connecting websites to other websites, routing messages on a network such as the Internet, and chip layout. In unipartite matching problems all nodes are of the same type or class (e.g., social network members) rather than disjoint sets and they can be matched with other nodes based on a value matrix having a weight or value for each edge of the unipartite graph data structure. For example, in the case of FIG. 3A, a unipartite version would have “u” nodes (302) that are the same as the “v” nodes (304).

FIG. 14 is a diagram of a node processing system for matching using degree distribution and belief propagation according to some embodiments of the disclosed subject matter. In particular, the node processing system 1400 includes a belief propagation node processor 1402 that is adapted to access belief propagation software on a one or more computers readable medium 1404. The belief propagation node processor 1402 is coupled via link 1406 to a network 1408. The belief propagation node processor 1402 is also coupled to an electronic data storage that has stored therein an expanded profit matrix subset 1410, received messages 1412 and belief values 1414.

In operation, the belief propagation node processor 1402 loads the matching using degree distribution and belief propagation software 1404 from the computer readable medium and executes the software. Once executing, the software directs the belief propagation node processor 1402 to perform matching using degree distribution and belief propagation according to the method described above. The belief propagation node processor 1402 accesses the expanded profit matrix subset 1410 and computes an updated message value for each connected (or neighbor or adjacent) node and sends the respective updated message to each connected node. The belief propagation node processor 1402 also receives updated messages from the connected nodes. The received messages are stored in the received messages area 1412 of data storage. The received messages 1412 are used in connection with the profit matrix subset 1410 to update belief values 1414 for each of the connected nodes. The profit matrix subset 1410 is the portion of the profit matrix that includes data regarding nodes connected to the node represented by the belief propagation node processor 1402.

Once a termination condition has been reached, the belief propagation node processor 1402 can sort the belief values 1414 and the b connected nodes with the largest belief values can be selected as the b-matching solution for the node corresponding to the belief propagation node processor 1402. It will be appreciated that the selection of the largest belief values is applicable to an example in which a profit matrix is used and it is desirable to enhance and/or maximize profit and that other sorting and selection techniques may be used in a particular embodiment, for example in an embodiment employing a cost matrix, a cost matrix may be converted into a profit matrix by subtracting the cost matrix from an appropriately large constant matrix.

The belief propagation software on a one or more computers readable medium 1404, when executed, can cause the belief propagation node processor 1402 to operate according to the following pseudo code:

Begin Pseudo Code // define data structures and variables float Received_Msgs [num_of_neighbors]; graph node address Neighbor_Nodes [num_of_neighbors]; int Profit_Matrix [num_of_neighbors]; int b=3; Boolean Message_Changed = true; initialize all Received_Msgs to 1; // to compute messages first time around initialize Profit_Matrix with bid values of neighbors; // start a main loop to continue until no messages are changed while ( Message_Changed == true ) {  Message_Changed = false; // switch off loop unless a message                     changes  Receive Messages from neighbors;  Compare new Received Messages with corresponding stored   Received Messages to look for changed messages;  If Any Changed Messages Received {    Store Received Messages in Received_Msgs[ ];    Message_Changed = true;    for j=1 to num_of_neighbors {     Sorted_Msgs[ ] = sorted list of Received_Msgs[ ] *       corresponding Profit_Matrix[ ] values excluding j;      L = original index of Sorted_Msgs[b]; // get index (or        node) of the bth received msg*profit;      Message =        exp(Profit_Matrix[j]) / (exp(Profit_Matrix[L]) *        received_msgs[L]);      Send Message to Neighbor_Node[j];   } end j loop  } end if changed message changed } end while loop - we are now done - no messages are changing // now get the belief values for this node for j=1 to num_of_neighbors {   belief_values[j] = received_msgs[j]*        Pofit_Matrix[j]; } end j loop sort belief_values[ ]; output largest b belief_values[ ]; End Pseudo Code

The above pseudo code example makes several assumptions in order to simplify the pseudo code for illustration purposes. For example, the b value is a constant value. Also, the code is assumed to be used on a processor that is computing the belief propagation for a single node of the graph, so that the indexing can be simplified for illustration.

Generalized matching or auction problems find the best assignment of goods to consumers or advertisers to consumers when given a matrix of weights or value for each possible assignment. Generalized bipartite matching is 100% solvable by linear programming, but that approach is too slow for practical applications.

The disclosed subject matter approach may employ belief propagation which gives highly improved solutions, which can be 100% optimal, but does so efficiently and can scale up to problems involving millions of users and advertisers. Other applications include network reconstruction, image matching, resource allocation, online dating, sensor networks, and others.

Online content providers can use the disclosed technology to better match advertising after a user enters a search term. Typically, online content providers show the top advertisers that bid the highest amount for a particular search term. Typically, this is done by solving a generalized matching problem. For example, assume there are 500 users and 100 advertisers. Assume each advertiser wants to show 15 ads and each user can see 3 ads. Since each advertiser bids different dollar amounts for showing their ads, the online content provider has to find the matching of ads to users that earns them the most money. When dealing with millions of users and advertisers, however, the exact solution to this problem using other techniques may be too slow and unable be distributed onto multiple machines for efficient computation. Many online content providers therefore resort to an approximate solution that was developed which gives suboptimal answers (not the most profitable) but can be solved efficiently and online. The disclosed technology permits the solution of large scale generalized matching using a distributed algorithm (belief propagation) which gives an exact answer. This may increase profit, potentially by up to 50%. It remains efficient enough to handle the scale of users/advertisers many online content providers deal with.

FIG. 15 is a block diagram of a system for matching advertisers with search terms using degree distribution information and belief propagation according to some embodiments of the disclosed subject matter. In particular, the system 1500 includes a search engine/content provider 1502 that is coupled to a degree distribution matching system 1503 and a belief propagation system for advertisement/keyword (search term) matching 1504. The search engine/content provider 1502 is also coupled to an electronic data storage having stored therein data representing a plurality of advertisers (1506-1508) each having a respective set of search terms (or keywords), advertisement associated with each keyword, and a bid for placing each advertisement (1510-1512). The search engine/content provider 1502 receives search terms, keywords and/or uniform resource locators (URLs) 1514 from one or more users. In response to the received input 1514, the search engine/content provider 1502 performs search term/advertiser matching using the degree distribution matching system 1503 and the belief propagation system for advertisement/keyword (or search term) matching 1504 to match a number of advertisements (three in this example) to the search term input, as described below with respect to FIG. 16. The b-matching advertisements (e.g., 3) are then displayed on a search engine results page (or content page of a partner website) 1516 as displayed advertisements 1518.

In this example, the nodes of the graph data structure include the advertisers/advertisements and the keywords (or search terms). The profit matrix includes the bid prices for each ad by each advertiser. The bid prices may be used as raw values or may be manipulated in order to arrive at a profit for the bid. The b value represents the maximum number of advertisements to be displayed on a results or content page (e.g., 3). However, each advertiser/advertisement node may also be subject to other constraints on its belief value such as a quota of advertisements to be displayed during a given period of time or a quota on an amount of money to be spent during a given period of time. These constraints may affect whether or not an advertiser/advertisement is selected as matching for a keyword, even if the bid for that advertiser/advertisement is high enough that it would normally be selected.

Advertisers may seek to manipulate or “game” the advertising bid system. The belief propagation methods and systems described above can be modified to provide enhanced protection against bid or ad system manipulation. For example, one bid manipulation scheme includes attempting to deplete a competitor's ad budget by placing a bid just less than the winning bid, this causes the price actually paid by the winning bidder to be artificially high and thus depletes the competitor's budget faster than would normally occur. After the competitor's budget is depleted, their bid is no longer the highest and the ad can be placed at a lower cost by the manipulator. One technique for combating this type of manipulation is to augment the b-matching algorithm with a module that can select a winner other than the first place or b-highest matches. By selecting an ad to be placed other than the normal matching ads, the manipulator's ad can be chosen, thus depleting the manipulator's budget as well. This discourages advertisers from placing artificially high bids in an attempt to deplete a competitor's budget. It will be appreciated that other now known or later developed ad auction manipulation prevention measures can be used with the disclosed subject matter.

The system for matching advertisements with search terms or keywords 1500 can comprise a second system (not shown) in addition to the belief propagation matching system for advertisement keyword matching (1504). The second system can be a bid web server, which also would typically comprise one or more computer storage mediums, one or more processing systems and one or more databases. Conventional web browsers, running on client computers can be used to access information available through the bid web server and permit advertisers to place bids for desired keywords that will be queried through the search engine or content provider. The bid web server can be accessed through a firewall, not shown, which protects account information and other information from external tampering. Additional security measures such as Secure HTTP or the Secure Sockets Layer may be provided to enhance the security of standard communications protocols.

In some of the above embodiments relating to the assignment of web advertisements according to bids, various factors can be used to modify the weight value of the weight matrix used to represent the matching problem. These can include: conversion rate; goal success rate; click through rate; how many times a user selects a given ad in a given session; a duration of time, from an ad result selection, until the user issues another search query, which may include time spent on other pages (reached via a search result click or ad click) subsequent to a given ad click; a ratio of the time, from a given ad result selection until a user issues another search query, as compared to all other times from ad result selections until the user issued another search query; time spent, given an ad result selection, on viewing other results for the search query, but not on the given ad result; how many searches (i.e., a unique issued search query) that occur in a given session prior to a given search result or ad selection; how many searches that occur in a given session after a given search result or ad selection; rather than searches, how many result page views that occur for a given search query before a given selection, this can be computed within the query (i.e., just for a unique query), or for the entire session; and rather than searches, how many search result page views that occur for a given search query after this selection, this can be computed within the query (i.e., just for the unique query), or for the entire session.

FIG. 16 is a chart of a method of matching advertisers with search terms using degree distribution and belief propagation according to some embodiments of the disclosed subject matter. Processing begins at 1602 with the provision 1604 of an expanded graph data structure. The expanded graph data structure nodes or vertices represent advertisers and keywords to be matched and additional dummy nodes as described above. For example, the graph data structure can include advertiser nodes that represent an advertisement from a particular advertiser to be displayed when a user enters one of a group of keywords that are of interest to the advertiser. The graph data structure can include keywords or search terms that correspond to those entered by users and which need to have a set of advertisements matched with in order to enhance and/or maximize revenue generated from pay-per-click advertising, for example.

Next, as indicated at 1606, an expanded profit matrix is provided. The expanded profit matrix represents a profit value for each advertiser/advertisement node connected to a corresponding search term node, plus additional profit values computed for dummy nodes based on degree distribution data, as described above.

Next, electronic messages are passed between adjacent or neighboring nodes as indicated at 1608. A belief propagation processor or distributed processing system adapted to perform belief propagation sends each message from a node is based on the profit matrix values and received messages of that node. The value (or data content) of each message is determined according to a compressed message update rule, described above. Received messages are stored by the processor in an electronic memory, such as, for example, RAM or a database. The message passing can be performed iteratively until a termination condition is met. A conditional branch based on the termination condition is indicated at 1610.

Next belief values for each neighboring node are updated based on received messages and stored as indicated at 1612. The updating can be executed, for example, by the processor adapted to perform belief propagation. The belief value for each node is based on the received messages and the profit matrix portion. If the belief value updating would result in changes to messages already sent, then those messages are sent again with updated values. However, if no belief values change or no message updates are needed, then the node does not send out messages. The settling of the node's belief values for adjacent nodes can indicate that an optimal solution has been reached and the belief propagation has converged on a solution to the matching problem.

A conditional branch is made based on the termination condition as indicated at 1610. The termination condition can be defined as reaching a steady state with respect to message updating. The steady state can be defined as no further message updates being sent or an amount of update message being sent that is below a certain threshold. Alternatively, the termination condition can be defined in terms of a number of iterations of message updating or a number of messages sent (either an aggregate number or a number per node). In another alternative, the termination condition can be defined as the elapsing of a predetermined period of time. If the termination condition has been reached, control proceeds to 1612, otherwise processing returns to 1608.

The b-matching advertiser/advertisement nodes matching an input search term are selected as indicated at 1612. The selected advertiser/advertisement nodes are matched based on sorted belief values. For example, in a b-matching problem, the b nodes having the highest belief values (i.e., profit values) with respect to an input node are selected. The selected nodes can be provided as output to another process or system at 1614. For example, the advertisements corresponding to the selected nodes can be displayed on the search engine results page or content page associated with the search term. Then processing ends at 1616.

It will be appreciated that the sequence 1602-1616 may be repeated in whole or in part in order to accomplish contemplated matching using degree distribution and belief propagation. For example, the belief values may be updated for the entire graph data structure and then matching results may be provided for a plurality of nodes on interest before the belief values of the graph are updated. Alternatively, because the matching may result in changes to one or more nodes in the graph as a result of being selected as matching nodes (e.g., an advertiser's quota of ads or quota of dollars spent may be reached), the belief values may need to be recomputed each time a matching is performed for a node.

FIG. 17 is a block diagram of a system for matching dating service members using degree distribution and belief propagation according to some embodiments of the disclosed subject matter. In particular, the system 1700 includes a dating service provider 1702 that is coupled to a degree distribution matching system 1703 and a belief propagation system for dating service member matching 1704. The dating service provider 1702 is also coupled to an electronic data storage having stored therein data representing a plurality of dating service members (1706-1708) each having a respective set of interests (1710-1712). The dating service provider 1702 receives the interests (1710-1712) from one or more respective users (1706-1708). The interests (1710-1712) can be used to generate a “profit” matrix for the users, for example, by generating a value representing the interests in common for a given pair of users, which can then be expanded using degree distribution data as described above. In response to the received interests (1710-1712), the dating service provider 1702 performs member matching using the belief propagation system for dating service member matching 1704 to match each member with b other members (e.g., for a fee a dating service may provide b introductions or matches to each user), as described below with respect to FIG. 18. The b matching members may then be communicated to the member that they are matched with as an introduction (e.g., each user may receive an email listing the members he or she has been matched with). For example, a results set 1714 (e.g., in an email or displayed on the user's page at the dating service) can be provided for Member 1. Within the results are listed the b-matching members 1715 selected to match Member 1. And, similarly, a results set 1716 (e.g., in an email or displayed on the user's page at the dating service) can be provided for Member n. Within the results set 1716 are listed the b-matching members 1718 that have been selected to match Member n.

In this example, the nodes of the graph data structure include the members of the dating service. The “profit” matrix (or compatibility matrix) can include the predicted compatibility between a pair of members. The b value represents the number of matching or most likely compatible members to be provided to each respective member (e.g., in accordance with the service agreement with the member). However, each member node may also be subject to other constraints on its belief value such as type of other member being sought, geographic preference, other preferences, a quota of matches to be provided during a given period of time, or the like. These constraints may affect whether or not a member is selected as matching for another member, even if the “profit” or compatibility for that member is high enough that it would normally be selected.

FIG. 18 is a chart of a method of matching dating service members using degree distribution and belief propagation according to some embodiments of the disclosed subject matter. Processing begins 1802 and an expanded graph data structure 1804 is provided. The graph data structure nodes (or vertices) represent dating service members to be matched and additional dummy nodes according to the expansion method described above.

Next, a compatibility (or “profit”) matrix is provided 1806. The compatibility matrix represents a compatibility (or “profit”) value for each potential pairing of dating service members. As described above, the compatibility value can be determined based on interests in common, or may be determined according to other suitable methods conventionally used by dating service providers.

Next, electronic messages are passed between adjacent or neighboring nodes as indicated at 1808. A belief propagation processor or distributed processing system adapted to perform belief propagation sends each message from a node is based on the profit matrix values and received messages of that node. The value (or data content) of each message is determined according to a compressed message update rule, described above. Received messages are stored by the processor in an electronic memory, such as, for example, RAM or a database. The message passing can be performed iteratively until a termination condition is met as indicated by the conditional branch 1810.

Belief values for each neighboring node are updated based on received messages and stored as indicated at 1808. The updating can be executed, for example, by the processor adapted to perform belief propagation. The belief value for each node is based on the received messages and the compatibility matrix or relevant portion thereof. If the belief value updating would result in changes to messages already sent, then those messages are sent again with updated values. However, if no belief values change or no message updated are needed, then the node does not send out messages. The settling of the node's belief values for adjacent nodes can indicate that an optimal solution has been reached and the belief propagation has converged on a solution to the matching problem.

The termination condition controlling branching at 1810 can be characterized as the realization of a steady state with respect to message updating. The steady state can be defined as one in which no further message updates are sent. Alternatively, the state may be defined as one in which the message updates being sent has fallen below a certain threshold. Alternatively, the termination condition can be defined in terms of a number of iterations of message updating or in terms of the number of messages sent (either an aggregate number or a number per node). Alternatively, the termination condition can be defined as the lapse of a predetermined time interval.

If the termination condition has been reached, the b-matching member nodes matching an input member are selected as indicated at 1814. The members are matched based on sorted belief values. For example, in a b-matching problem, the b nodes having the highest belief values (i.e., compatibility values) with respect to an input member are selected and can be used as output to provide introductions between members with likely compatibility. At 1814, the selected members can be provided to a compatible member as described above. The process ends at 1816.

It will be appreciated that the procedure of 1802-1816 may be repeated in whole or in part in order to accomplish a contemplated dating service member matching using belief propagation. For example, the belief values may be updated for the entire graph data structure and then matching results may be provided for a plurality of nodes on interest before the belief values of the graph are updated. Alternatively, because the matching may result in changes to one or more nodes in the graph as a result of being selected as matching nodes (e.g., a member's quota of introductions may have been reached), the belief values may need to be recomputed each time a matching is performed for a node.

FIG. 19 is a diagram of a system for matching sellers and buyers in an auction using degree distribution and belief propagation according to some embodiments of the disclosed subject matter. In particular, the system 1900 includes an auction service provider 1902 that is coupled to a belief propagation system for auction buyer/seller member matching 1904. The auction service provider 1902 is also coupled to an electronic data storage having stored therein data representing a plurality of sellers (1906-1908) each having a respective set of goods/services being offered (1910-1912), and a plurality of buyers (1914-1916) each having a respective set of goods/services being sought (1918-1920). The auction service provider 1902 receives the goods/services being offered (1910-1912) and the goods/services being sought (1918-1920), which can be used to generate a profit matrix for matching the buyers and sellers, for example, by generating a profit value for each seller selling his goods/services to a corresponding buyer seeking those goods/services.

In response to the received goods/services being offered (1910-1912) and the goods/services being sought (1918-1920), the auction service provider 1902 performs graph and profit matrix expansion using degree distribution matching system 1903. Then, using the expanded graph data structure and expanded profit matrix, the auction service provider performs buyer/seller matching using the belief propagation system for auction buyer/seller matching 1904 to match each buyer with b sellers (e.g., such that the buyer's requirements are met), as described below with respect to FIG. 20. The b matching sellers may then be communicated to the buyer that they are matched with in order to complete a transaction. For example, a results set 1922 that has the b-matching between buyers and sellers can be provided as output. Alternatively, the matches for a particular buyer or seller can be communicated directly to that buyer or seller.

In this example, the nodes of the graph data structure represent goods/services being offered (1910-1912) and the goods/services being sought (1918-1920). The profit matrix can have values based on a particular buyer buying from a particular seller. For example, in the case of a buyer, the b value can represent the number of matching sellers needed to meet the buyer's requirements. In the case of a seller, the b value can represent the number of buyers needed to purchase the sellers goods/services being offered. However, each node may also be subject to other constraints on its belief value. These constraints may affect whether or not a buyer/seller is selected as matching for another buyer/seller, even if the profit for that matching is high enough that it would normally be selected.

FIG. 20 is a chart of a method of matching sellers and buyers in an auction using degree distribution and belief propagation according to some embodiments of the disclosed subject matter. After beginning 2002, an expanded graph data structure is provided as indicated at 2004. The expanded graph data structure nodes or vertices represents auction buyers and sellers, and their respective goods/services, to be matched. Next, an expanded profit matrix is provided 2006. The expanded profit matrix represents a profit value for each seller node connected to a corresponding buyer node. The expanded graph data structure and the expanded profit matrix being generated according to the method described above.

Electronic messages are passed between adjacent or neighboring nodes as indicated at 2008. A belief propagation processor or distributed processing system adapted to perform belief propagation sends each message from a node is based on the profit matrix values and received messages of that node. The value (or data content) of each message is determined according to a compressed message update rule, described above. Received messages are stored by the processor in an electronic memory, such as, for example, RAM or a database. The message passing can be performed iteratively until a termination condition is met. This is controlled by a branch point 2012.

Belief values for each neighboring node are updated based on received messages and stored as indicated at 2008. The updating can be executed, for example, by the processor adapted to perform belief propagation. The belief value for each node is based on the received messages and the profit matrix portion. If the belief value updating would result in changes to messages already sent, then those messages are sent again with updated values. However, if no belief values change or no message updated are needed, then the node does not send out messages. The settling of the node's belief values for adjacent nodes can indicate that an optimal solution has been reached and the belief propagation has converged on a solution to the matching problem.

Next, it is determined whether the termination condition has been reached at branch point 2010. The termination condition can be defined as reaching a steady state with respect to message updating. The steady state can be defined as no further message updates being sent or an amount of update message being sent that is below a certain threshold. Alternatively, the termination condition can be defined in terms of a number of iterations of message updating or a number of messages sent (either an aggregate number or a number per node). In another alternative, the termination condition can be defined as the elapsing of a predetermined period of time. If the termination condition has been reached, the b-matching buyer or seller nodes matching an input buyer/seller node are selected as indicated at 2012, otherwise control returns to 2008.

The selected nodes are matched based on sorted belief values at 2012. For example, in a b-matching problem, the b nodes having the highest belief values (i.e., profit values) with respect to an input node are selected. At 2014, the selected nodes can be provided as output to another process or system. For example, the sellers corresponding to a selected buyer node can be displayed for the buyer (or vice versa). Processing then ends 2016.

It will be appreciated that the procedure at 2002-2016 may be repeated in whole or in part in order to accomplish a contemplated auction buyer-seller matching using belief propagation. For example, the belief values may be updated for the entire graph data structure and then matching results may be provided for a plurality of nodes on interest before the belief values of the graph are updated. Alternatively, because the matching may result in changes to one or more nodes in the graph as a result of being selected as matching nodes (e.g., a buyer or seller has reached their respective quota of goods/services), the belief values may need to be recomputed each time a matching is performed for a node.

FIG. 21 is a diagram of a plurality of degree distribution matching/belief propagation processors implemented in hardware according to some embodiments of the disclosed subject matter. In particular, a system 2100 includes a plurality of belief propagation processors (2102-2108 and 2112-2118). Each of the processors is coupled to a bus 2110. The belief propagation processors are constructed for operating as nodes in a belief propagation system for matching using degree distribution as described above. The system 2150 can include processors that are stand-alone or can represent a single semiconductor device having multiple belief propagation processors constructed thereon.

In operation, each hardware belief propagation processor performs the belief propagation method described above for a single node. The hardware details are shown in FIG. 22, which is a diagram of a hardware matching using degree distribution/belief propagation processor according to some embodiments of the disclosed subject matter.

In particular, the hardware belief propagation processor 2202 includes a multiplier section 2204, an adder section 2206, a sorter section 2208, a max unit 2210, a storage 2212 each coupled to an internal bus 2214. The processor 2202 is coupled to an external bus 2216 in order to communicate with other processors and exchange messages 2218. The messages 2218 include a “to” field, a “from” field and a value field. The “to” field specifies an intended recipient node of the message, the “from” field specifies the sending node, and the value field contains the message value as calculated according to the message update rule described above.

In operation, the processor 2202 listens to messages on the external bus 2216. When a message is intended for the processor 2202, the processor 2202 receives the message and stores it in the storage at a location corresponding to the sender node of the message. Processor 2202 can then calculate an updated message value to the nodes stored in its storage as neighbor or adjacent nodes and can send the updated messages to each corresponding neighbor node. The sections and units of the processor 2202 are used to perform the calculations required for determining updated messages and belief values. The processor 2202 can also transmit its b-matching nodes to another processor or system via the external bus 2216.

The processor 2202 may be implemented as a stand alone device or may be incorporated into a device having other circuitry including other belief propagation processor nodes.

In addition to the applications described above, the method and system for matching using degree distribution data can also be adapted to provide solutions to other types of problems. For example, the weight matrix can be thresholded. Setting the degree prior to: ψ_(i)(k)=−θk

will cause the maximum b-matching to have edges on when Wij is greater than threshold Φ.

The method and system for matching using degree distributions can mimic traditional b-matching by setting the degree prior to be delta functions at degree b.

The method and system for matching using degree distributions can mimic bd-matching, which enforces lower and upper bounds on the degrees, by setting the degree priors to be uniform between the bounds and to have zero probability elsewhere.

The method and system for matching using degree distributions can mimic k nearest neighbors by duplicating the nodes of the graph to form a bipartite graph, where edges between nodes in the original graph are represented by bi-partitions, and by setting the degrees of one bipartition to exactly k while leaving no constraints on the other bipartition.

Also, the method and system for matching using degree distributions can mimic spanning tree estimates by requiring that each node has at least one neighbor and there are at most |V|−1 edges total.

FIG. 23 is a chart of a recommendation post processing method using degree distribution and belief propagation according to some embodiments of the disclosed subject matter. The method 2300 begins at 2302 and continues to 2304.

At 2304, training and test data sets are received. The data sets include node representing users and items. For example, the users may include movie watchers or book readers and the items may include movies or books. In another example, the users can include customers of an e-commerce business and the items may include items sold by the e-commerce business. Processing continues to 2306.

At 2306, a ratings matrix is received. The ratings matrix corresponds to ratings of items by users in the training data set. For example, movie watchers may rate movies on a scale of 1 to 5, or readers may rate books on a scale of 1 to 10. Processing continues to 2308.

At 2308, deviation bound data is determined. The deviation bound represents the probability that ratings by a user or for an item will deviate from their respective true mean values. The deviation bound can be used to determine the “degree” distribution for each row (e.g., user) and column (e.g., item) in the training data set. The degree potential can be set according to the following formula:

⁢ψ i ⁡ ( k ) = - λ ⁢ ( 1 C tr ⁢ ∑ j = 1 ⁢ Y ij - k / c te ) 2 ⁢ c tr ⁢ c te 2 ⁢ ( c tr + c te )

where Y represents the ratings matrix value, Ctr is the size of the training set, Cte is the size of the testing set and λ, is a regularization parameter used to scale the potentials. For additional discussion on the mathematical background and support for the above formula see the Appendices. Processing continues to 2310.

At 2310, edge weight values are learned from the training data set. For example, a fast Max-Margin Matrix Factorization (fMMMF) using a logistic loss function can be applied. The result of the fMMMF can be used as a weight matrix for matching using degree distribution. Additional discussion of the mathematical basis for using fMMMF can be found in the Appendices. Processing continues to 2312.

At 2312, an expanded graph data structure and expanded weight matrix are generated. The expanded graph data structure can be generated using the testing data set according to the method discussed above. The expanded weight matrix can be generated using the edge weights generated by the edge weight learning performed at 2310 and by using a value proportional to the deviation bound data as “degree” distribution data for each row/column. For example, a particular user may only like 30% of recommended products. The initial recommendation engine output may include 1000 movies that could be recommended to the user. For post-processing of the recommendation engine output, the degree distribution of the user could be represented by a vector of length 1000 (representing the total possible degree values) with a value Of 1.0 located at the index of the vector associated with 300 (or 30%). Of course, the degree distribution value may include a different distribution that is a Gaussian centered around the desired value. It will also be appreciated that the recommended products have a degree distribution (e.g., what percentage of users liked or disliked the product). The degree distribution of the products can also be taken into account by including the degree distributions of the products in the expanded weight matrix. Processing continues to 2314.

At 2314, a max weight b-matching process is performed as described above. Belief propagation can be used to determine the max weight b-matching on the expanded graph data and weight matrix data. Processing continues to 2316.

At 2316, a portion of the result of the max weight b-matching is provided as output. For example, a portion of the results corresponding to the testing set nodes can be provided. Processing continues to 2318, where processing ends.

FIG. 24 is a block diagram of a recommendation post processing system using degree distribution and belief propagation according to some embodiments of the disclosed subject matter. In particular, a system 2400 includes an edge weight learning processor 2402 coupled to a degree distribution matching processor 2404.

The edge weight learning processor 2402 is adapted to receive a training data set of users and items 2406 and a testing data set of users and items 2408. The training data set 2406 is used to train the system 2400 in order to make a prediction about the testing data set 2408. The edge weight learning processor 2402 also receives ratings matrix data 2410. The edge weight learning processor 2402 performs an operation to learn edge weight from the training data set. For example, the edge weight learning processor 2402 can perform a fast Max-Margin Matrix Factorization (fMMMF) with a logistic loss function in order to generate an output weight matrix corresponding to the edge weights predicted for the testing data set, these edge weights 2412 can be provided to the degree distribution matching processor 2404 as input.

The degree distribution matching processor 2404 also receives the testing data set 2408 and deviation bound data 2414. The degree distribution matching processor 2404 can use the deviation bound data 2414 as “degree” distribution data for use with the testing data set 2408 and the edge weights 2412 from the edge weight learning processor 2402.

The degree distribution matching processor 2404 performs the matching using degree distribution method as described above and outputs post processed recommendation output 2416. The post processed recommendation output 2416 includes the prediction output of the fMMMF with degree prior adjustment. By using the degree priors from the training data as a statistical bound, the post processing is mathematically guaranteed to produce an improvement or at least to not degrade the initial recommendation engine results.

FIGS. 25A-25D are diagrams of an initial weight matrix being expanded once to “square” the matrix and then expanded once again to include degree distribution data. FIG. 25A shows an initial weight matrix 2500 for a simplistic illustration of the dating service problem described above. The weight matrix 2500 is a 2×3 matrix and includes two men (M1 and M2) and three women (W1-W3). The values in the weight matrix correspond to hypothetical compatibility indexes between respective men and women. The weight matrix 2500 represents a bipartite problem having two classes of nodes (men and women). Also, it can be seen that the weight matrix 2500 is not square.

FIG. 25B shows a first expanded weight matrix 2502. In, the first expanded weight matrix 2502 the men and women have been placed on each side of the matrix to form a 5×5 matrix. This achieves two things. First, the first expanded weight matrix is now square, which will permit the b-matching to be performed more simply by not having to take into account a rectangular, but not square weight matrix. Second, by having both classes of nodes on each side of the graph, computation of the marginal degree distribution quadrants will be simpler. There is, of course, a computational cost to increasing the weight matrix size and depending on the particular problem may or may not be worthwhile.

FIG. 25C shows a second expanded weight matrix 2504 based on the first expanded weight matrix 2502 and on degree distribution values for each node. The second expanded weight matrix 2504 includes the first expanded weight matrix 2502 as the upper left quadrant. The second expanded weight matrix 2504 includes degree difference values as the upper right and lower left quadrants and a zero quadrant as the lower right quadrant.

FIG. 25D shows a diagram of the second expanded weight matrix 2506 with degree distribution values used to populate the weight matrix values for the upper right and lower left quadrants. For example, the first weight matrix value 2508 for the first row, column cell of the upper right quadrant is determined based on the degree distribution values for M1. For example, assuming the degree distribution values start at a value for one connection and that the probability for zero degree, i.e., φ_(M1)(0), is 0 for all users, the value at 2508 is computed as: φ_(M1)(0)−φ_(M1)(1) or (0−0.2)=−0.2. Once the weight values for the second expanded weight matrix have been determined according to the method described above, a b-matching operation can be performed. Since the original bipartite graph having men and women nodes has essentially been recast as a unipartite problem (having men and women on each side of the weight matrix), the loopy belief propagation technique described herein can be used to solve the b-matching, where, in this case, b=5.

A result matrix (not shown, but similar in nature to that shown in FIG. 8) can be generated by selecting the top b matches for each node and setting them to a value of 1 in the result matrix, which has a size equivalent to the second expanded matrix. All other values of the result matrix can be set to zero. Thus, a binary result matrix is generated in which a 1 in a cell represents an edge of the subgraph solution. As discussed above, the upper left quadrant (in this case, the upper left 5×5 portion) of the result matrix is extracted as the final result matrix for the original problem. A value of one in a matrix cell represents an introduction between the man and woman corresponding to the edge represented by that cell, with the introduction representing a maximum weight subgraph satisfying the degree distributions of each user node.

In addition to being able to “square” a rectangular weight matrix, the technique described above with respect to FIGS. 25A-25D can be used to transform a bipartite problem into a unipartite problem for solving using the match with degree distribution technique. As mentioned, this technique incurs a computational cost, but may be useful for certain problems needing to be solved with the degree distributions of both classes of nodes being taken into account.

Embodiments of the method, system, computer program product and computer readable media for matching using degree distribution, may be implemented on one or more general-purpose computers, one or more special-purpose computers, a programmed microprocessor or microcontroller and peripheral integrated circuit element, an ASIC or other integrated circuit, a digital signal processor, a hardwired electronic or logic circuit such as a discrete element circuit, a programmed logic device such as a PLD, PLA, FPGA, PAL, or the like. In general, any device or process capable of implementing the functions or processes described herein can be used to implement embodiments of the method, system, computer program product or computer readable media for matching using degree distribution.

Furthermore, embodiments of the disclosed method, software, and computer program product (or computer readable media) for matching using degree distribution may be readily implemented, fully or partially, in software using, for example, object or object-oriented software development environments that provide portable source code that can be used on a variety of one or more computers platforms. Alternatively, embodiments of the disclosed method for matching using degree distribution can be implemented partially or fully in hardware using, for example, standard logic circuits or a VLSI design. Other hardware or software can be used to implement embodiments depending on the speed and/or efficiency requirements of the systems, the particular function, and/or a particular software or hardware system, microprocessor, or microcomputer system being utilized. Embodiments of the method, system, computer program product and computer readable media for matching using degree distribution can be implemented in hardware and/or software using any known or later developed systems or structures, devices and/or software by those of ordinary skill in the applicable art from the functional description provided herein and with a general basic knowledge of the computer arts.

Moreover, embodiments of the disclosed method for generalized matching using belief propagation can be implemented in software stored on computer readable media (or provided as a computer program product) and adapted to be executed on a programmed general-purpose computer, a special purpose computer, a microprocessor, or the like. Also, the matching using degree distribution method of this disclosed subject matter can be implemented as a program embedded on a personal one or more computers such as a JAVA or CGI script, as a resource residing on a server or graphics workstation, as a routine embedded in a dedicated processing system, or the like. The method and system can also be implemented by physically incorporating the method for matching using degree distribution into a software and/or hardware system, such as the hardware and software systems of a search engine, ecommerce platform, online auction, online dating, resource allocation, or image processing system.

It should be appreciated that graph nodes in both the bipartite and unipartite matching process can be associated with any object, article, events, things, processes, or persons and/or data representation one or more of them represented as any form of data structure or vector. The weight (e.g., compatibility score) between nodes may be any function of their corresponding attributes, including but not limited to any distance function, generalized divergence function, generalized inner product, similarity function or kernel function between the pair of objects, data structures or vectors. For example, the nodes in a unipartite matching may correspond to vectors in Euclidean space and the distance may correspond to the Euclidean distance. Note also that, instead of ads and phrases or people in a social network, any dataset of n objects, such as n vectors or n data structures may for a basis for a graph of n nodes and a matrix of size n by n. Thus, the b-matching and degree distribution methods described herein may be applied in settings such as in image processing or in general analytics such as classification problems.

It is, therefore, apparent that there is provided in accordance with the presently disclosed subject matter, a method, system, a computer program product and a computer readable media with software for matching using degree distribution. While this disclosed subject matter has been described in conjunction with a number of embodiments, it is evident that many alternatives, modifications and variations would be or are apparent to those of ordinary skill in the applicable arts. Accordingly, applicants intend to embrace all such alternatives, modifications, equivalents and variations that are within the spirit and scope of disclosed subject matter. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having software instructions stored thereon for matching items with other items comprising: receiving a first graph data structure having nodes representing items, a first weight matrix having weight values each associated with an edge in the first graph data structure connecting two items, and degree distribution data having degree distribution data for each node in the first graph data structure; generating a second graph data structure including nodes representing the first graph data structure and a plurality of dummy nodes; generating a second weight matrix including values representing the first weigh matrix and having additional values associated with the plurality of dummy nodes, the additional values being determined based on the degree distribution data; determining a constraint value for the nodes of the second graph data structure that represent the nodes of the first graph data structure; performing a maximum weight b-matching operation on the second graph data structure and the second weight matrix to produce a result matrix wherein b is greater than 1; and extracting a portion of the result matrix that corresponds to the nodes of the first graph data structure and providing that portion as output.
 2. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein performing the maximum weight b-matching operation includes performing a max flow operation on the second graph data structure and second weight matrix.
 3. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein performing the maximum weight b-matching operation includes performing a belief propagation operation among nodes of the second graph data structure.
 4. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 3, wherein the belief propagation operation includes: updating a belief value corresponding to each neighboring node of a selected node in the second graph data structure by passing messages between neighboring nodes until a termination condition is met, each message being based on values of the second weight matrix and received messages, where a data content of each message is determined according to a compressed message update rule; and storing each updated belief value and each received message in an electronic storage associated with the selected node.
 5. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the items include male and female members in a dating application.
 6. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the items include movies.
 7. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the items include books.
 8. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the items include sound records.
 9. A computerized method for matching items with other items, the method comprising: receiving, by one or more processors, a first graph data structure having nodes representing items, a first weight matrix having weight values each associated with an edge in the first graph data structure connecting two items, and degree distribution data having degree distribution data for each node in the first graph data structure; generating, by the one or more processors, a second graph data structure including nodes representing the first graph data structure and a plurality of dummy nodes; generating, by the one or more processors, a second weight matrix including values representing the first weigh matrix and having additional values associated with the plurality of dummy nodes, the additional values being determined based on the degree distribution data; determining, by the one or more processors, a constraint value for the nodes of the second graph data structure that represent the nodes of the first graph data structure; performing, by the one or more processors, a maximum weight b-matching operation on the second graph data structure and the second weight matrix to produce a result matrix wherein b is greater than 1; and extracting, by the one or more processors, a portion of the result matrix that corresponds to the nodes of the first graph data structure and providing that portion as output.
 10. The computerized method of claim 9, wherein performing the maximum weight b-matching operation includes performing a max flow operation on the second graph data structure and second weight matrix.
 11. The computerized method of claim 9, wherein performing the maximum weight b-matching operation includes performing a belief propagation operation among nodes of the second graph data structure.
 12. The computerized method of claim 11, wherein the belief propagation operation includes: updating a belief value corresponding to each neighboring node of a selected node in the second graph data structure by passing messages between neighboring nodes until a termination condition is met, each message being based on values of the second weight matrix and received messages, where a data content of each message is determined according to a compressed message update rule; and storing each updated belief value and each received message in an electronic storage associated with the selected node.
 13. The computerized method of claim 9, wherein the items include male and female members in a dating application.
 14. The computerized method of claim 9, wherein the items include movies.
 15. A system for matching items with other items comprising: a storage configured to store software instructions for performing a method of matching items with other items using degree distribution, a first graph data structure having nodes representing items, a first weight matrix having weight values each associated with an edge in the first graph data structure connecting two items, and degree distribution data having degree distribution data for each node in the first graph data structure; a hardware processor coupled to the storage and configured to execute the software instructions and perform operations including: generating a second graph data structure including nodes representing the first graph data structure and a plurality of dummy nodes; generating a second weight matrix including values representing the first weigh matrix and having additional values associated with the plurality of dummy nodes, the additional values being determined based on the degree distribution data; determining a constraint value for the nodes of the second graph data structure that represent the nodes of the first graph data structure; performing a maximum weight b-matching operation on the second graph data structure and the second weight matrix to produce a result matrix wherein b is greater than 1; extracting a portion of the result matrix that corresponds to the nodes of the first graph data structure and providing that portion as output.
 16. The system of claim 15, wherein performing the maximum weight b-matching operation includes performing a max flow operation on the second graph data structure and second weight matrix.
 17. The system of claim 15, wherein performing the maximum weight b-matching operation includes performing a belief propagation operation among nodes of the second graph data structure.
 18. The system of claim 17, wherein the belief propagation operation includes: updating a belief value corresponding to each neighboring node of a selected node in the second graph data structure by passing messages between neighboring nodes until a termination condition is met, each message being based on values of the second weight matrix and received messages, where a data content of each message is determined according to a compressed message update rule; and storing each updated belief value and each received message in an electronic storage associated with the selected node.
 19. The system of claim 15, wherein the items include male and female members in a dating application.
 20. The system of claim 15, wherein the items include movies. 